Teachers Share their Experiences While Living Abroad!

Embarking on a journey as a first-year teacher can feel daunting and chaotic. Each person is different and has varying knowledge and strengths to bring. A piece of advice that may help one teacher may be useless to another, so I only want to speak from my position and say that these are some tips and tricks that would’ve helped me as I began my experience here, with this post more oriented towards moving and transitioning, and I’ll soon release tips for the classroom. All in all, this time will be full of growth and learning, and an experience you will never forget!

This winter is set to break records and be one of the coldest winters in a long while. Last year, when I first arrived to Seoul in November the air was icy. It was fall, but it was soon to be winter. I was born and raised in Southern California. I thought I was ready for winter, but I was wrong. While there are a lot of things that one obtains for a cheap price in South Korea, clothes is not one of them. Well, maybe if you are shopping for thick summer clothes in a college town, then clothes are cheap. However, the clothing and material needed to endure a real winter is far from cheap. Considering the first snow has already fallen in Seoul now (and it is only November!), I found it fitting to inform you of what I wish I had bought in the United States before coming to Korea.

Hello everyone, my name is Monica and I recently began teaching in Korea for ChungDahm Learning beginning this May. To give you a little background about myself, I have lived all over the United States and I received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from Drexel University and a Master of Marine Science from University of North Carolina Wilmington. Since graduating I had spent several years looking for a relevant job until a friend recommended teaching in Korea. After doing some research I decided to apply through Aclipse.

After going through the application process, which Aclipse was very helpful guiding me through, I was finally placed with a teaching position at ChungDahm's Mokodong branch which is located in Seoul. Despite doing a lot of research and reading the other Aclipse blogs written by current teachers abroad, there were still some things that I learned upon my arrival that I wish I knew prior to departing for Korea. In this blog I write about five things that you will most likely not find in your research about living in Korea.

Teaching English in Korea can be difficult in terms of getting certain items. There have been a few blogs on the topic and even tips on where to get items. For starters, I have constantly asked for care packages from home because there are a handful of items that I cannot find here, or the price is ridiculously overpriced for the items. This is to the point where international shipping is cheaper, unbelievable! I decided to compile a list of things that are a MUST bring if you do come to teach English Korea, and a tip as to where you can pick up certain products.